BARRINGTON — Hurricane Sandy wreaked terrible devastation, especially in New York City and the mid-Atlantic states. Our hearts go out to those who suffered the loss of loved ones and agonized at the destruction of their homes and businesses. Once again, our area escaped the full fury of the storm. The grievous toll in human terms has been well-documented in newspapers and on television, but I've seen no reports of the storm's impact on wildlife.

At my house, not a single bird visited the feeders during the two days of rain and strong winds — except for one gritty Hairy Woodpecker. He ventured to the tree holding the suet feeder, took a few bites whenever the howling wind briefly subsided, then retreated to the lee side of the tree the second it resumed.

So where were the other birds? Probably in their usual nighttime roosting places, according to The Audubon Society Encyclopedia of North American Birds: cardinals and goldfinches in dense thickets, jays and crows in evergreen trees, woodpeckers in former nesting holes, chickadees and titmice in tree cavities and abandoned woodpecker holes. After the storm passed and things returned to normal, the feeder birds were back with no apparent decrease in numbers.

But birds do not always escape a major storm's havoc. The Encyclopedia notes that in 1940 an early May ice storm in Illinois caused the demise of nearly 50 percent of the area bluebirds. In March, 1904, following a severe snowstorm, more than 750,000 migrating Lapland Longspurs were found dead on frozen lakes in Iowa and Minnesota; overall, the toll was in the millions. A late April snowstorm in Nova Scotia in 1940 resulted in the deaths of untold numbers of swallows that had arrived on their breeding grounds just a few days earlier.

Hurricanes can also destroy bird habitat, but often they bring unusual species to our vicinity. Last year, Hurricane Irene in late August “brought some great sightings,” according to New Hampshire Bird Records, “including a White-tailed Tropicbird, Sooty Tern, and an amazing fallout of Hudsonian Godwits and Black Terns.”

At the Wednesday, Nov. 14 meeting of Seacoast Audubon, Dr. Sarah Barnum, Senior Wildlife Biologist with Normandeau Associates, will present an overview of the current understanding of wind power-related effects on wildlife. Dr. Barnum has nearly 20 years of professional experience with a focus on assessing the impacts to wildlife from a wide range of development projects. The meeting will be held at the Seacoast Science Center at Odiorne State Park in Rye and begins at 7:30 p.m. with refreshments at 7 p.m.